The Ebola outbreak in West Africa, with more than 13,000 reported cases and nearly 5,000 deaths so far, has laid bare the world’s inability to mount a rapid response to an infectious disease crisis. Emerging in a part of the world with weak governments and collapsing health systems, the disease has unleashed a massive humanitarian and economic crisis. In recent weeks, good news has begun to emerge: the World Health Organization declared Nigeria and Senegal Ebola-free last month and recently announced a decline in new cases in Liberia. Panic over cases in the United States has begun to subside.

Now, as the media wave of Ebola coverage begins to crest and the international aid machine at last grinds toward a response, it’s time to turn to the larger message of the outbreaks. Is Ebola a litmus test for poor health systems, demographic change and environmental degradation? What does this crisis tell us about culture, security and governance in a globalized world? Are we able, and willing, to respond to an epidemic of this scale?

This panel discussion includes two veterans from the front lines of fighting infectious disease in Africa. Dr. Alex Coutinho, director of Uganda’s Infectious Diseases Institute from 2007-2014, has led first response efforts again Ebola outbreaks. Jane Coyne, on the board of Médecins Sans Frontières USA, managed many on the ground emergency relief efforts in Africa for more than a decade. They will be joined by an Ebola survivor who will share his unique perspective on the outbreak.